Random Thoughts on Journeys, Judaism, and the Movies

Mini-Review and Premiere: The Hateful Eight

I had a chance to go the NY Premiere of The Hateful Eight at the Ziegfeld Theatre. If you’ve never been to the Ziegfeld, it is an experience of epic moviegoing proportions.

I have never been to a premiere before so this was lots of fun. The was tons of free popcorn, soda, and candy. We received souvenir tickets and a program booklet.

Before the movie began, Harvey Weinstein welcomed us and then introduced a very energetic Quentin Tarantino. Quentin gave a short speech and then invited up 7 of 8 of the “Hateful Eight” along with Channing Tatum. (Samuel L. Jackson wasn’t there).

The movie began with applause for every name in the cast (they were sitting right there) and much of crew. The film had an overture and then later an intermission.

There’s a lot of waiting around at a premiere – getting there early to get a good seats, movie starting late – but it was all good fun. Michael Madsen came right next to my seat and was being encouraged to sit in the empty chairs next to me, but he declined (and I don’t think watched the movie). After the film, I ended up right behind Harvey Weinstein, but only got this picture (to the left).

But we’re here for the movie review…

About: Nine people (really it’s nine) end up trapped in a cabin during a blizzard. Eight of them are not very nice and bad things follow.

Starring: A lot of familiar Tarantino folk (Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Madsen, Tim Roth) along with other solid folk and a very amusing Jennifer Jason Leigh.

Directed: Quentin Tarantino’s 8th film. If you missed the opening credits, you’d know it was his film really easily form the style of directing.

Best Thing About It: Walter Goggins as Sheriff Chris Mannix. He most successfully balances being a racist bastard and still getting us rooting that he might live.

Worst Thing About It: Twice in the second half of the film a narrator’s voice is used to further the action. It felt very forced and unworthy of a superior screenwriter like Tarantino.

Notable Thing About It: Wow this was a beautiful film. Shot on 70mm film using Ultra Panavision 70, it was presented to Tarantino’s expectation in the Roadshow showing at the Ziegfeld (The longer running time is only for the Roadshow). And it looked amazing. The landscapes were outstanding as you were immersed in full visions of the scenery from left to right.

Overall: It has everything you expect in a Tarantino film. Like Django Unchained, it was also was full of racism and extreme violence. But I cared about the characters in Django. In The Hateful Eight, they were all proven to be unpleasant people, so their violence against each other was not compelling. It also felt very familiar.

2 comments on “Mini-Review and Premiere: The Hateful Eight”

Not surprising that Goggins was effective as a sympathetic racist — he practiced for six seasons as Boyd Crowder in the criminally underappreciated (i.e., my wife didn’t like it) “Justified”. Must’ve been quite the event — congratulations for being there and thanks for sharing!